Graphic 45 and May Arts Ribbon Blog Hop - Day 1

Graphic 45 and May Arts are teaming up for a blog hop June 18th - 22nd! There will be tons of inspiration and fabulous prizes. When Graphic 45 vintage-inspired papers and embellishments team up with gorgeous May Arts ribbons who knows what will happen?!

Each day the Graphic 45 Blog will be featuring a sneak peek image from one or more of the design team member's blogs. Just hop on over to the listed blog(s) and leave a comment!

A random comment will be chosen from one of the Graphic 45 design team member's blogs and the winner will be announced on Monday, June 25th! There's also an exclusive Facebook prize! And a Pinterest prize! Check the Graphic 45 Blog for details.

May Arts is also offering gorgeous prizes on their blog and Facebook page! You'll definitely want to check it out! Just tell them that Graphic 45 sent you! So much inspiration! So many chances to win prizes! This is going to be a great week!

The blog line up for today (June 18th) includes:

 Alberto

Gloria - YOU ARE HERE

Nicole

Jingle

Charlene

I used Graphic 45 A Ladies' Diary papers and some amazing May Arts ribbon to decorate and alter a wood dresser. My inspiration was my Graphic 45 teammate, Arlene who created a dresser using the Little Darlings collection. See Arlene's project HERE! I love her project and wanted to make a dresser with a darker color palette.

This wood dresser is about 10 inches tall and is one of those simple pine items that you can purchase for a few dollars at any craft store. But look at it now!

I wanted to create a Victorian-inspired piece with black accents. The floral paper (Focal Point) has beautiful pastel flowers on a black background. Perfect!

Before I started the project, I used a heat tool to soften the glue on the small, wood knobs that were attached to each drawer. I pulled the knobs off and sanded the entire dresser. Then, I coated the dresser with Gesso and two coats of black acrylic paint (Making Memories Asphalt).

I painted the inside of the drawers, then lined them with paper. In the "old days" we used to line our dressers with pretty newspapers or magazine pages. I remember my mom lining all the dressers and all the kitchen drawers and shelves. (Ok, the old days were the 1970s, but we were "country people" and my parents grew up during the Great Depression!)

When you add this many coats of paint, you need to make sure that the drawers can still slide in and out. They can get a bit "stiff" and even stick. (Trust me!)

I added a sticker from the A Ladies' Diary collection to the top of the dresser. To tell the truth, I am covering a dent that I made trying to un-stick the drawer! Once each drawer was covered with paper, I glued a Graphic 45 Metal Button Staples to each drawer front.

I painted each metal item with a thin coat of Gesso, then dry brushed the items with some black paint. Once everything was completely dry, I sanded a bit of the paint and Gesso off to reveal the metal. To attach the drawer pulls, I used pliers to pry the brad backing off the Graphic 45 button staples, then used a strong glue to attach them to the drawers.

To attach the paper to the outside of the dresser, I used a gel medium (Liquitex Matte Gel). I painted a thin coat of the gel medium directly onto the wood and added my paper. The gel dries a bit more slowly than other glues so there is time to make sure the paper is in place. Once I had the paper the way I wanted, I used a brayer to smooth it down. The result is PERFECT. No air bubbles, no buckling, the paper does not get wet or sticky.

For this side of the dresser, I created a rolled ribbon flower from May Arts black silk ribbon, then added a bow and a large pearl. I created a "fashion plate" from one of the Graphic 45 chipboard elements and some of the paper and stickers.

I wanted to decorate all sides of the dresser, but did not want to "over do it." I really want to use this on my scrap desk to hold small items, so it must be useful as well as pretty.

For this side I painted a Graphic 45 Ornate Metal Door Plate Staples and glued it to the dresser. I used micro tip scissors to fussy cut the lady and used foam tape to pop her off the metal. When fussy cutting, if you make a bit of a mistake, rub the edges with ink to mask the error!

Here is the back of the dresser. I used the "newsprint" paper to cover this area to make it look more "authentic."

For the top of my dresser I created a mini gift box using a Spellbinders die template. I tied some pretty May Arts green wrinkle ribbon to the box. I added a doily and a pen nib. But my favorite part is the tiny "lady's diary" that I made!

I cut two pieces of chipboard 2 1/5 x 1 1/5 inches and covered them with paper. I inked all the edges with black ink. For the cover, I added a Graphic 45 chipboard element and two of the Graphic Stamped Metal Brads.

For the inside, I trimmed some lined paper to 2 1/2 x 3 inches and folded them in half. I glued the pages together and attached them to the diary covers. I used some tissue tape to bind the spine of the diary. I added a bookmark by trimming a bit of thin May Arts Champagne silk ribbon.

I hope you enjoyed my project and little tutorial.

 
Make sure to leave a comment for your chance to win the prize!

Do you want to learn more about Graphic 45 and May Arts? Here is some fun information about these two fantastic crafting companies!

Graphic 45 an award-winning scrapbook and paper crafting company­— owned and operated by a mother and her two daughters. Together we create vintage inspired crafting products that capture the flamboyant style of the 1920's and 30's - with vibrant color, irresistible texture and imaginative design to create products with decades-old appeal that's both fresh and familiar. Let our products inspire your next scrapbook layout, card, album or home decor project.

May Arts Ribbon was founded in the early 1980’s in Riverside, Connecticut. The original products were high-end silk flowers imported from Taiwan, which were decorated using quality ribbons. The decorative ribbons proved so popular among customers that the business gradually evolved into a dedicated ribbon wholesaler.

As a family-owned and operated business, May Arts began a long-standing tradition of quality,affordability and exceptional customer service. We are dedicated to carrying on this same tradition by offering high quality products at competitive prices. Our friendly, knowledgeable staff is always happy to answer your questions or to assist you in placing your order.

May Arts carries a wide selection of quality ribbons to choose from; such as grosgrain, silk, satin, burlap and a variety of prints and patterns. All inventory is held in stock, so we can ship orders out right away—typically the same day.

Blog Roll

Monday, June 18th:
Alberto
Gloria - YOU ARE HERE!
Nicole
Jingle
Charlene

Tuesday, June 19th:
Arlene
Jim
Betto
Vera
Latrice
Karen

Wednesday, June 20th:
Clare
Kristin
Sharon
Jenifer
Tiffin

Thursday, June 21st:
Denise
Laura
Susan
Jen
Candy
Kimberly

Friday, June 22nd:
Jane
Maiko
Tara
Jinky
Leah

Graphic 45Paper:
A Ladies' Diary: A Ladies' Diary, Focal Point, Fashion Plate, La Gazette, Tags 1 and 2, Cardstock Stickers

Graphic 45 Staples:
Metal Buttons, Metal Brads, Ornate Metal Door Plate

Ink: Clearsnap Colorbox Pigment Ink: Dragonfly Black
Ribbon: May Arts: Champagne Silk, Black Silk, Green Wrinkled
Wood chest: Michael's Crafts
Cardstock: American Crafts: Black
Tissue Tape: Tim Holtz Idea-ology
Pen nib: Tim Holtz Idea-ology
Journal pages: Crafty Secrets Summertime Journal Notes
Doily: Craft supply
Pearl button: Pro 31 Designs
Die cut box: Spellbinders Square Bracket Box
Chipboard: Grafix
Paint: Delta Ceramcoat Gesso; Making Memories Asphalt Acrylic Paint
Adhesive: Liquitex gel medium; Cosmo Cricket Glubers; Scotch 3M tape runner; Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L foam squares; Beacon Fabri-tac; Glue Dots adhesive dots; Scor-pal Scor-tape; white glue